Sunday, March 11, 2012

Foes
of the Church would like nothing more than to redirect the current
debate over regulatory mandates of the Department of Health and Human
Services into a public debate over contraceptives. That would divert
attention from the real issue. The real issue is the attempt by one
branch of the federal government to redefine what constitutes a
religious body and its charitable or faith-based works. The effort is a
choking circumscription that removes almost all faith-based
organizations from the definition of a religious employer.

Under the definitions of the HHS mandate, no organization can claim
exemption as a religious employer if it provides services to persons
other than adherents to its own faith. Were this attempt to confine
religion not so serious in its implications, it would be almost comical
to see the current administration lecture the Catholic Church on health
care issues, especially women’s health care. Although Catholic
healthcare systems are by far the largest private provider of medical
services to women and babies in the United States (sorry, in the world),
the present administration does not think that they are religious in
identity. And this is because Catholic hospitals don’t turn away the
ambulance from the Emergency Department just because the patient is not
Catholic.

It’s not a women’s issue either. Centuries ago, when
society believed that women had no place receiving education or
participating in commerce, Catholic women were founding and
administering hospitals and orphanages, human service networks, colleges
and universities. And this was done precisely because of our religious
identity and purpose, not despite it. The same women administered the
business of large religious Orders – hundreds, and often thousands, of
women who joined together to teach, to heal, to serve the poor for one
reason only: for love of God and service in God’s name. Some of these
very hospitals and healthcare systems, together with some of these very
charitable and social service organizations, are now being told by the
administration that they are not religious in nature (or at least cannot
claim a religious exemption to the HHS mandate).

The issue at
hand is not contraceptives; it is what defines a religious body and its
faith-based works, for purposes of federal regulatory mandates. The
first issue is about a government demand that they pay for
contraceptives, including abortion-inducing drugs. What is the next
issue? For persons of any religious background this attempt to whittle
away at what constitutes a religious body ought to be chilling for what
it represents: government intrusion into the very definition of
religion. At some point a line must be drawn, and many believe that
this is that point.

In other words, Catholics have always put
our faith into action, but the current administration believes that by
doing so, we no longer qualify as a religious body. In the past, some
Catholic politicians sacrificed their beliefs on the altar of public
opinion by saying that they were “personally opposed” to certain actions
(especially abortion) but would not allow their religious beliefs to
influence political decisions and votes. The current administrative
mandate takes this one bold step forward: no religious employer is
permitted to put their religious beliefs into action. Only if you keep
your faith indoors where no one will see it will you continue to qualify
as a religion.

Do you understand now what the real issue is? Do you understand now why the Catholic bishops are so upset by this?

The very reason Catholic healthcare treats persons of all faiths, and
those of no faith whatsoever, is precisely because of our religious
beliefs and our religious identity. We heal the sick of all faiths,
because our faith teaches us to value all human life. We clothe and
feed the poor of all faiths precisely because our faith respects the
dignity of every human person. We educate students young and old of
every faith because we value opening every mind to the wonders of God’s
creation. And these same values lead us also to the moral conclusion
that the taking of human life through abortion or abortion-inducing
drugs is fundamentally opposed to the dignity of a human person created
by God. The same values lead us to conclude that human sexuality, with
its participation in God’s creation of human life, is a gift to be
valued and honored, not treated with casual disregard or devalued as
merely animal-like lust.

It is irrelevant whether one accepts
or questions the Catholic moral conclusion that insists on never
separating the “unitive” and “procreative” aspects of human sexuality,
such that the intimate sexual bond of husband and wife is never very far
from the power to create human life. That is a red herring in the
larger context of government whittling away at what constitutes religion
in public policy. To understand this larger reality will lead people
of all faiths to the conclusion reached by Baptist minister and former
Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, “In this matter, we’re all Catholics.”

Despite a promise of accommodation by the United States President, the
final ruling did not change a word. The White House has notified
Congress that the mandate has been entered into the Federal Registry
“without change.” Despite an invitation to “work out the wrinkles,” the
President immediately placed the mandate into practice as a matter of
administrative regulation.

If you’re upset by this, please be
upset enough to call, write, or visit your federal legislators to insist
that they represent your interests in this, and insist that they pass
legislation by a veto-proof majority that will prevent government from
redefining what constitutes religion and that protects religious
freedom.